Edmund Burke: [A] Thoughts, 1770 1

Nations are not primarily ruled by laws. Nations are governed by the same methods and on the same principles by which an individual without authority is often able to govern those who are his equals or his superiors; by a knowledge of their temper and by a judicious management of it. It is no wonder that with ideas of everything in their constitution and government at home, either in church or state, as illegitimate and usurped or at best as a vain mockery, they look abroad with an eager and passionate enthusiasm. Whilst they are possessed by these notions, it is vain to talk to them of the practice of their ancestors, the fundamental laws of their country, the fixed form of a constitution, whose merits are confirmed by the solid test of long experience, and an increasing public strength and national prosperity.